Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: A consortium led by Saudi-based ACWA Power has been awarded the Salalah Independent Power Project (IPP), which will have a capacity to generate 25 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD) of desalinated water.
The project was awarded to a consortium of ACWA Power, Veolia and Dhofar International Development & Investment Holding Company (DIDIC) by the Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP), said a press release. The project will be located in Salalah, Dhofar region and will use reverse osmosis technology.
The desalination project is being procured by OPWP under a build-own-operate framework on the back of a twenty-year water purchase agreement (WPA). Dhofar Desalination Company, the project company, will be owned by ACWA Power, Veolia Middle East and DIDIC.
“Water is the most vital commodity for human life as well as a necessity for all enterprises. We are delighted to have been awarded this project and the opportunity to continue supporting Oman as a reliable supplier of desalinated water and power,” said Paddy Padmanathan, President and Chief Executive Officer of ACWA Power.
The engineering, procurement, and construction of the plant will be handled by a consortium of Fisia Italimpianti SpA and Abeinsa Infraestructuras Medioambiente SA. The operations and maintenance of the plant will be undertaken by a consortium of Veolia Middle East, NOMAC Oman and DIDIC.
Apart from ACWA Power-led consortium, seven other groups — a consortium between Degremont Middle East and Itochu Corporation; GS Inima Environment, Hyflux, JGC Corporation, Marubeni Corporation, Sembcorp Utilities and Tecnicas de Desalination de Aguas — were also in the race for bidding the project.
The desalination project, called Salalah IWP III, will be able to meet the growing demand for water. The new project is required to meet an annual average growth of 9 per cent in potable water demand for the next seven years—from 42.6 million cubic meters in 2016 to 78.4 million cubic meters in 2023, according to a seven-year outlook report released by OPWP.
“Oman is a strategic country for ACWA Power — our portfolio of six plants can generate over 4,300 megawatt of power and 42 million gallons per day of desalinated water. ACWA Power is committed to ensuring the success of this project while creating real value for the local communities. As such, the project will play a key role in meeting the increasing demand for water in Oman, which is expected to be on an average, about six per cent per annum over the next seven years,” said Thamer Al Sharhan, Managing Director at ACWA Power.
ACWA Power is a developer, investor and operator of a portfolio of power generation and desalinated water production plants currently with presence in 10 countries including in the Middle East and North Africa, Southern Africa and South East Asia regions. ACWA Power’s portfolio, with an investment value in excess of $30 billion, can generate more than 22 GW of power and produce 2.7 million cubic meters of desalinated water per day to be mostly delivered on a bulk basis to state utilities and industrial majors on long-term off-take contracts under public-private-partnership, concession and utility services outsourcing models.
